Laura Hewitt, a twenty-four year old Englishwoman, is living with her aunt and acts as a companion to her pretty younger cousin, Emily. It's been a long time since a novel has so captured my imagination and my heart - Zemindar was simply wonderful and has now joined the ranks of my favorites! It is a rich, sweeping tale of adventure, love, and the horrors of battle during the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857 in India, and Valerie Fitzgerald's magnificent storytelling brings to life both the beauty and the dangers of the exotic Indian setting. He infuriates her, invades her soul - and claims her as his own, forcing her to confront her own divided loyalties, her own mutinous heart.'

Challenged by Erskine to plumb India's innermost secrets, Laura's quest puts her in thrall to the Zemindar himself, arrogant and demanding, lustful and compassionate, tender and persuasive. Subject to Britain's Queen, but also a son of India, he walks the tightrope between treason to the Crown and betrayal of his own native land, a world both beautiful and dangerous, lit with splendor and torn by despair. He is Oliver Erskine, hereditary ruler of his private kingdom, commander of his own native army - and brother of the man she loves. 'A magnificent love story unfolds against the backdrop of exotic splendor and stirring deeds as young Englishwoman Laura Hewitt journeys to the East to the fabled fiefdom of the Zemindar, Guardian of the Earth.

Zemindar by valerie fitzgerald